Current-motor



H. A. J1 THIESEN. CURRENT MOTOR. APPLI'CATION FILED APR. 5, 1920.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

3| l A l CURRENT MOTOR. APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. Iszo.

Patented Jan. 18,1921.

2 SHEETS-suur 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CURRENT-MGTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

Application led April 5, 1920. Serial No. 371,535.

To all whom it may 4cof/wem Be it known that I, HUGO A. J. THIESEN, acitizen of the German Republic, residing at St. Louis, State ofMissouri, have invented certain new andy useful Improvements inCurrent-Motors, of which the following is a full, clear, andexactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

The present invention is directed to imrovements in current motors, andparticuarly to water wheels disposed in the path of a stream of water,although the application of currents of air or ases is not to be eX-eluded. The object 0T the invention is to utilize one or more pairs ofwheels mounted on a common shaft, the wheels of any pair rotatinsimultaneously irl opposite directions, t e corresponding wheels of anpair (where more than one pair are emp oye'd) rotating in the samedirection.` By this arrangement a ymaximum efficiency `is developed froma given current, the construction of the motor is simplified, and itsinstallation rendered easy, all as will more fully appear from thefollowing detailed descril tion of the invention in connection with tFigure 1 represents aside eevation of a portion of a frame in--which thewater Wheels are mounted, parts being shown in section; Fig. 2 is afront elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan of the wheels shown inFig. 1, the outer casing being in section.; Fig. 4 is a verticalcross-section through the wheel shaft taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5between the gear hubs of two adjacent wheels; Fig. 5 is a sectionaldetail through the gear hubs of twoad'acent wheels along a radial lanethrough t e axis of the wheel shaft; ig, 6 is a front elevation of aframe showing four independent sets of wheels;

and Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional detail show ing the bottom apronleading to thewheel casing... v

Referring ,to the drawings, 1 represents suitable cylindrical codageheid 1o agio position by .a frame composed of' structural menzibersV 2,hereshown' as Lbeams, the frame being built to hold any desired bepofzoasj'ngs depending on the horse power to be developed. At the bottoniof the frame in' the rear, or on the side facing the current are hingedaprons 3 which serve to direct the current to the bottom casings" andprevent the current from undermining the structure by eddying andwashing away the sands. Disposed in the casing 1 at each end thereof(all the casings being alike so that a description vof one will suicefor all) is a spiderpro'vided with a central hub 4 and radiating arms 5,the outer ends of the latter being made fast to the inner wall of thecasing by angle pieces 6 as shown (Fig. 2). The hubs 4 of the spidersare disposed along the axis of the casing 1 and form bearings for theends of the wheel shaft S, the front projecting end of the shaftterminating in a bevel gear wheel 7.` Mounted loosely on the shaft S atthe center thereof is the hub 8 of the water wheel lV, and keyed to theshaft on either side of the loose wheel WV are the hubs' 9 and 10 of thefast wheels W', W, respectively. The wheels W, W', constitute members ofa pair in which provision is `made to cause the loose wheel W to rotatein one direction while the fast wheel W and its s haft S rotate in theopposite direction 1n dlrect response to the current. This pro- `visionis as follows The inner adjacent ends of the hubs 8, 9, are formed withbevel gears or gear rings 11, 11, which mesh with bevel e accompanyingdrawin sin whichpinions lloosely mounted on studs or spindles 13extendingin diametrically opiposite directions from `a sleeve 1/1mounted loosely on the shaft S between the hubs. It

`is apparent from the connections described that when the wheel W keyedto the shaft rotates in one direction, it will impart simultaneousrotation to the loose wheel W in the opposite direction. This reversedirection is assisted by the waters discharged from the wheel W', thecurrent impinging against the blades of the wheel W so as to turn it andthe shaft S in one direction, while the waters leaving said wheelimpinge against the blades of the loose wheel 'W so as to impart theretoa rotation in the opposite direction, it` being understood that theblades of the two wheels are not only transversely curved in oppositedirections but are set at an angle to the planes of rotation of thewheels, those on one wheel being setv reversely to the blades of theadjacent wheel. This causes the current to drive one wheel (W) in onedirection, the discharge waters therefrom impinging against the bladesof the adjacent wheel (W) so as to drive it or tend to drive it in theopposite direction, this opposite direction being rendered fullyresponsive to the current by the gearing interposed between the wheelsas previously described. rlhe wheel W is fast on the shaft S, the sameas the wheel Vil', the blades of the wheel W being set and curved tocorrespond with the blades oit' the first wheel (lV) so that when thewaters discharged from the loose wheel W impinge against the blades ofthe last wheel (W) they will drive or tend to drive said wheel and theshaft S in the same direction as the wheel lV. Thus, with the foregoingarrangement the maximum eiliciency results from the action of thecurrent, the latter driving the wheels exposed thereto with i'ull forceand eiect and consequently driving the shaft S from which the power istaken and distributed to other machinery. In the present embodiment ofthe invention the bevel gear wheel 7 terminating the front end of thewheel shaft meshes with a horizontal bevel gear l on a vertical shaft1G, the latter terminating at the top in a bevel gear 17 which in turnengages a vertical gear i8 on the main transmission shaft 19 from whichthe power may be conducted to any suitable point of consumption notshown. The casings l are secured to the upright structural members ofthe frame-F by means of plates 20 secured to the outer walls of thecasings, said plates being provided with claws or hooks d which engagethe flanges of the I- beams constituting such structural members.

Any equivalent means for anchoring the casings to the frame :tall withinthe scope o l3 my invention.

In F ig. 6 are shown a battery oit lour motors, there being two verticalshaits 1G each driven by a pair of motors, and each shaft contributingits share in driving the shaft 19. The operation is obvious from Figs. land 3, it being clear that as rotation is imparted to the wheels lV', W,the shaft S will be rotated, and from said shaft the motion istransmitted to the other shafts, the gear connections between the middleloose wheel W, and the iirst wheel lV of the series keyed tothe shaft,making certain that the speed of reverse rotation of said loose wheel isfully commensurate with the speed of rotation of the wheel W, so thatthe waters discharged from said loose wheel will in turn act on the lastwheel W to impart to it a rotation speed commensurate with that of thewheel W. Obviously, the details shown may be considerably alteredwithout involving a departure from either the nature or spirit of theinvention. Features shown but not alluded to are well understood in theart and require no description in the present connection.

Having described my invention what I claim is: Y

l. A current motor of the character described, comprising a pair ofwheels, a composed to the current and the loose mon supporting shafttherefor, one of the wheels being tight and the other loose on saidshaft, means for causing rotalion in :l given direction to be impartedto the first wheel by Y a power transmitting ineniber mounted on theshaft between the wheels, and intermediN ate connections between saidnlelnber and the wheels for imparting to the second or loose wheel. asimultaneous rotation in the, opposite direction.

i current motor oi the character le scribed, comprising a pair olwheels, a eo1nmon supporting shait therei'or. one ol' the wheels beingtight, and the other loosey on said shaft and spaced iroin the firstwheel, means for causing rotation in a given direetion to be imparted tothe first wheel by the current traversing the wheels, a sleeve mountedloosely on the shait between the` wheels, pinions on the sleeve disposedat points diametrieally opposite one another and rotating loosely on thesleeve about axes disposed at right angles to the axis oli the shaii't,and gear rings on the adjacent faces of the wheels meshing with saidpinions whereby simultaneous rotation in the opposite direction isimparted to the loose wheel.

3. A current motor of the character dcscribed, comprising a shaft, awheel loosely mounted thereon, a wheel keyed or made tight to the shaftdisposed on each side of the loose wheel, means for causing rotation ina given direction to be imparted lo one of the tight wheels by thecurrent traversing the wheels, intermediate connections between saidtight wheel and loose wheel `for imparting to the latter a simultaneousrotation in the opposite direction, the second tight wheel or that onthe opposite side of the loose wheel receiving the discharges troni thelatter wheel, and suitable means on the second tight wheel actuated bysaid discharges, thereby supplementing the action of the current on thefirst tight wheel.

A current motor ol the character described, comprising a shaft4` aradially bladed wheel loosely mounted thereon, a ra dially bladed wheelkeyed or made tight lo the shaft disposed on each sie@ of the loosewheel, the blades of the loose wheel being:` set atan angle to the planeof rotation ol' (be wheel and at an angle to the direction ol How of thecurrent, the blades of the tight wheels being set at a similar angle tol he rotation plane but reversely to the blades of the loose wheel,mechanical devices intel`- posed between the tight wheel directly eX-wheel iior imparting to the latter rotation in the opposite direction tothat imparted to the tight wheel by the current traversing the wheels.the second tight wheel receiving and being actuated by the dischargesfrom the loose the current traversing the wheels. s

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l il (l wheel, whereby the action of the current on the first tightWheel is supplemented by said discharges.

5. In a current motor of the character de scribed, a shaft, a waterWheelkeyed thereto, a second wheel mounted loosely on the shaft andspaced from the tight Wheel, gear rin on the adjacent faces of theWheels disposed about the axis of the shaft, a sleeve mounted loosely onthe shaft between the wheels, studs or spindles radiating from saidsleeve, and pinions mounted loosely on the studs and meshing with thegear rings aforesaid.

6. In a current motor of the character described, a shaft, a bladedWater wheel mounted loosel thereon, bladed Water Wheels made tig it tothe shaft on opposite sides of the loose Wheel, the loose Wheelreceiving the discharges from one of the tight Wheels and rotating in a.direction opposite thereto and to the shaft, and the second tight Wheelreceiving the discharges from the loose Wheel and turning with the shaftand first tight Wheel.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HUGO A. J. THIESEN.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, Jos. A. MICHEL.

